I think the common thread for this month’s picks must be loss. In the first two, the lost are family members, one to war and the others to madness. The third book details the loss of a most precious but taken-for-granted possession: the sense of personal security. The fourth pick gives a close-up look at the loss of our nation’s moral high ground, and the fifth of a way of life we may never regain. Happy Reading!
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2008
ISBN-13: 9780918339713
ISBN-10: 0918339715
Military wife Grubb documents the frustrating and tragic search for her husband, shot down and then missing in Vietnam. Her own personal tragedy inspired her to become one of the founding members of the National League of Families of POW/MIA. This is a noble and courageous story of one woman’s personal struggle against bureaucratic obstinacy and officiousness.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/26/2008
ISBN-13: 9780553805253
ISBN-10: 0553805258
For over a century, Ireland had one of the highest incidences of schizophrenia in the world. Tracey travels from America to Ireland to try to trace the history of his own family’s tragic connection to the disease, as it claims two of his four sisters and various aunts, uncles, grandparents and others. A compelling, personal story of a complex and devastating illness.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/01/2008
ISBN-13: 9780061451607
ISBN-10: 0061451606
Brennan recounts her courtship, relationship and the ensuing stalking by a man she finds out too late is truly a psychopath. A chilling, visceral story of one woman’s struggle to maintain her sanity and her security while having every aspect of her life invaded by an insane and potentially dangerous madman.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/15/2008
ISBN-13: 9780385526395
ISBN-10: 0385526393
Mayer pulls no punches as she details and documents the backroom policymaking by senor Bush administration officials—including the Vice President—that allowed this country to go so wildly off course as to condone, allow, and carry out serious civil rights violations, up to and including torture. This is a gripping, chilling read that made me truly sick to my stomach. “It could never happen here…?” I wouldn’t be so sure.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2009
ISBN-13: 9781568584102
ISBN-10: 1568584105
You couldn’t ask for a better explanation, history and expose of how our country came to be in the current economic, social and cultural mess we are in now than to read this book. Here it all is, in well-documented black and white, the story of how we became a nation of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation. (Can you say de-re-gu-la-tion?)
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/14/2008
ISBN-13: 9780525950615
ISBN-10: 0525950613
Little Black Book by Seldon Edwards has been more than 30 years in the making. Imagine going back in time to 1897 Vienna, Austria and meeting Sigmund Freud, young Adolf Hitler and American writer Mark Twain among other well-known personalities. This is what happens to Wheeler Burden who is a rock idol, writer, philosopher, and a Harvard baseball hero in 1988. Wheeler is dislocated in time during a pivotal moment in history. The fin de siècle Vienna has many important intellectuals and personalities that will have an influence on what is yet to come. It is Wheeler’s mission to find out why he has been transported to this time and place and what it all means to the people he meets along the way some of whom are his own flesh and blood.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/01/1997
ISBN-13: 9780312961329
ISBN-10: 0312961324
The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher was first published in 1987 and has become one of Pilcher’s most famous best-sellers. Set in England, the novel opens with 64 year old Penelope Keeling who has just discharged herself from the hospital after what is seemingly a heart attack. This event triggers Penelope to examine her past and her relationships with her adult children. The narrative shifts carefully back and forth in time as Penelope reveals her life, love, and secrets. Penelope must take a good hard look at her three adult children who she loves dearly but who constantly fight over Penelope’s inheritance which includes a painting created by Penelope’s father entitled “The Shell Seekers” that is now worth a fortune. In typical Pilcher fashion – warm, loving and caring - Penelope reveals to her children the true meaning of love, happiness and independence.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/30/2006
ISBN-13: 9780385340175
ISBN-10: 0385340176
Having lived the greater part of my life in L.A., I’ve enjoyed the various settings mentioned in this novel tremendously. I could also somewhat relate to the life style of Dora, a book junkie who buys books just because. Dora’s life has fallen apart – her marriage, her career and also her self-esteem all have hit rock bottom. Soon Dora finds herself attracted to an independent book-seller who seems to embody all that literature has to offer, which includes intelligent ideas, romance, and an escape from her problems. A quick and easy read – with a somewhat abrupt ending – I’ve nevertheless enjoyed this book, which includes lots of literary quotes placed at the beginning of each chapter.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/12/2009
ISBN-13: 9780312555115
ISBN-10: 0312555113
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/03/2009
ISBN-13: 9780312427801
ISBN-10: 0312427808
A charming, creative novel about the relationship that develops between a Japanese housekeeper and a brilliant mathematics professor with a peculiar ailment- he lives with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. By constantly living in the now and respecting the order of numbers, the housekeeper and her young son forge a touching family relationship with the man who can’t remember.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780060840921
ISBN-10: 0060840927
A falling down Ann Arbor house connects the four well-defined characters of Laken’s first novel. With joy and dreams, Kate throws herself into a remodeling project as Stuart, her slacker husband, retreats from their marriage. Walker and Jay appear on the scene with full knowledge of the house’s tragic past. The author skillfully weaves these stories together in a gripping tale.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780689842436
ISBN-10: 0689842430
QPootle 5 crash lands on Earth and needs help fixing his space ship. He wants to ask an earthling for help, but all he meets are a frog, some birds, and a cat. Will QPootle 5 miss the moon party?
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/30/1993
ISBN-13: 9780689505690
ISBN-10: 0689505698
Once upon a time, there were three little wolves and one horrible, mean, bad pig. Read this very funny fractured fairy tale and see if the pig will knock down the wolves’ houses of bricks, cement, and metal!
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780763615697
ISBN-10: 0763615692
Oy (American name Olivia) is a third grader whose parents speak mostly Thai. Oy wants to join a club started by the popular Liliandra. She can only join the club if she lets Liliandra try on Oy’s beautiful Thai dancing dress at school. Oy only uses the dress for special occasions. Oy must decide between her dress or the school club.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/14/2006
ISBN-13: 9780763626358
ISBN-10: 076362635X
Oy is now in fifth grade and a member of the Quail Club with Liliandra. There is going to be a talent competition at school. Oy wants to showcase her Thai dancing, but Liliandra wants to do a modern dance routine. Oy now must choose between following Liliandra and remaining in the Quail Club, or going with her own choice to show the class her Thai dancing in her traditional costume.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/18/2008
ISBN-13: 9780399250705
ISBN-10: 0399250700
There are a group of abandoned cats that live by the side of a busy highway. One day, three kittens are dumped nearby. The cats don’t expect the kittens to survive. But then a miracle happens, and hope begins to spread among the highway cats in this modern fairy tale.